What has made the women in Bangladesh prisoners of their own reluctance? Hafeeza, Shaheen’s sister in law who is also a victim of dowry associated domestic violence, thinks she has an answer: the ability of Bangladeshi men to divorce their wives.  “He will divorce me right now, he just has to say talaq,” says Hafeeza.  “He has money, so it will be not a problem for him.  He says, ‘Go to police if you want,’ because the police can’t do anything for me.”

Yet Hafeeza, just like her sister-in-law and many other Bangladeshi women, declares, “But I have never complained against him. I know that telling you these things is also wrong. Very wrong.”  She was first beaten by her husband, Abdul Aziz, after only two or three days of marriage. “He became angry and started to beat me. He dragged me from my hair on the road,” Hafeeza says through teary eyes.   As her family was unable to meet the dowry demands of her husband, Abdul Aziz forced her to go to a garment factory where she can work and earn enough to pay for her own dowry. Even though Hafeeza surrendered her earnings to her husband, he kept beating her, even when she was pregnant. “Once my father-in-law became sick. I was three months pregnant. My husband said he needed money to treat his father, asked me to go home and bring my unpaid dowry,” Hafeeza says.  “My family couldn’t get any money to give to him. So, he beat me, again and again. He said he doesn’t want the child.”

“I was sick, I couldn’t go to work. In the garment factory, if we sit down somewhere to rest a little bit, they slap us, and don’t give us money. Then I left my job. My husband became so angry. He said, ‘Why did you leave the job without my permission? I don’t want that child, I want money. Eat this medicine and let the child die, so you can go to work again’,” Hafeeza chokes out.  She was left upset at her fate as a woman. “I felt so sad; I was thinking, ‘Why was I born as a girl. Why didn’t Allah make me a man?’”

Compared with many other women in Bangladesh, Shaheen and Hafeeza are quite lucky. Violence against women is not limited to spousal beatings, but also extends to acid attacks and even murder.

Alam, the police officer in Chittagong, elucidates, “You see, even the educated and rich people do these crimes. They are not just poor people’s crimes. They do big ones,” he says solemnly.  “A poor man would just slap or kick the wife, but the rich ones, they are not afraid even to kill. They know that they can easily get away.”  In Bangladesh, where corruption has tarnished the legal system, people no longer believe in seeking justice from the police or the court system. As Khan describes, Bangladesh has sufficient laws to address nearly every kind of violence, the only problems is that the laws are ineffective with all the corruption and the lack of implementation.

In addition to the Dowry Prohibition Act, Cruelty to Women Ordinance, and Women and Children Repression Prevention Act, The Family Court Ordinance of 1985 provides for the exclusive jurisdiction of the court on matters related to marriage and dowry. The Bangladeshi government has also ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which urges countries to take national actions to solve women-related problems.  But Bangladesh declined to accept Clause II of the convention, which discusses rights within a family.

According to recent reports, in the first half of 2009, 119 cases of dowry-related domestic violence were reported, 78 of which resulted in death.  Ain O Salish Kendro, a prominent human rights group in Bangladesh, reports that in 2008 and 2007, 172 and 187 women were killed due to dowry-related domestic violence, respectively

“He beats me. He was very angry because we didn’t give him anything. Now he beats me for everything.” Shaheen describes her husband’s brutality.  “He beats me a lot. He beats me with anything in his hand.  He will even beat me with an axe if he gets it nearby. He threatens me saying he can even kill me if he wants. He puts the axe to my neck.”  Hafeeza also talks about her unpleasant experiences, which match those of her sister. “If the rice is not ready, if I forgot to wash a dress, or if I didn’t patch a kameez, he beats me,” she says.  “He used to punch on my stomach so the child would die.”